Subject: Class on Thursday From: James Davis Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 21:55:09 -0700 To: James Davis Newsgroups: ucsc.class.cmp160 As you know we will not be having our normal class on Thursday due to the service workers strike. As I explained, I believe the university is misrepresenting the situation and making use of its position of power to intimidate both the service workers and others on campus. In particular I think its unethical to suggest that these workers are doing something illegal by striking. While I am no lawyer, I believe the university position would be untenable except that the university *is* the state of California and thus gets to (indirectly) make up whatever laws it wants. In any case it is clear to me that our society will not function as it currently does if labor unions can not bargain and strike if necessary. Someone in class suggested we meet at: 99 Bottles of Beer 110 Walnut Ave Santa Cruz, CA 95060-3929 Although I initially dismissed the idea, I've decided that this is a fine opportunity to educate you on topics outside our normal curriculum. We will meet at the aforementioned location downtown. Thursday's class topic will be social justice, and attendance is optional. The topic is motivated by the universities handling of the strike, but we may diverge into globalization, immigration issues, capital markets, the role of government, etc.. I hope you will all attend, and I hope we will have enough dissenting opinions that we have a lively discussion. As an optional reading list here are a few books that have influenced my thinking: Unlocking the Clubhouse : Women in Computing Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World Bjorn Lomborg Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line : The Marketing of Higher Education David L. Kirp High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them Jean-Francois Rischard Globalization and Its Discontents Joseph E. Stiglitz Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty Muhammad Yunus The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits C. K. Prahalad The Future of Ideas : The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World LAWRENCE LESSIG Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace Lawrence Lessig The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings Gandhi Academic Duty Donald Kennedy Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy Barbara Ehrenreich Prof James Davis